Safety rails and the like

ABSTRACT

A safety rail, guard or barrier held in position between two parallel supports by two in-line tubular members connected together by a tube affixed by a pin to the stationary member of the pair, the pin moving in an arcuate slot in a handle pivoted by a pin to the movable member and moving in a slot in the tube on operation of the handle to expand or retract the members.

United States Patent Pedle [451 Mar. 28 1972 [54] SAFETY RAILS AND THELIKE 363,609 /1887 [72] Inventor: John David Pedley, Rochdale, England[73] Assignee: Hopkins & Buckland Limited, Middleton, 849,263 1907England 1,499,895 7/1924 1,156,065 10/1915 [221 Flled 19, 1970 3,163,20512/1964 Gottlieb ..160/2l6 [21] APP! 81954 FOREIGN PATENTS 0RAPPLICATIONS Foreign Application Priority Date 127,698 3/1946 Australia160/2l7 Oct. 28, 1969 Great Britain ..52,650/69 Primary Examiner-DennisL. Taylor Attorney-Norris & Bateman [52] [1.5. CI ..160/216, [/223,160/225,

287/58 R [57] ABSTRACT 3 A safety rail, guard or barrier held inposition between two 1604 214 "1'05 parallel supports by two in-linetubular members connected 287/58R, i together by a tube affixed by a pinto the stationary member of the pair, the pin moving in an arcuate slotin a handle pivoted by a pin to the movable member and moving in a slotin the [56] References Cited tube on operation of the handle to expandor retract the mem- UNlTED STATES PATENTS bers- 139,232 5/1873 Boughton160/225 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures T Q Q Q 0/ ,4

7 Q 1 fi*fi=- 9 -N 5 Q m) pdfid' k gflpflddp' d PATENTED W 2 8 I972SHEET 2 OF 2 Q4 F/G? SAFETY RAILS AND THE LIKE This invention relates tosafety rails, guards or barriers of the type held in position betweentwo parallel supports by two in-line tubular members one of which isaffixed to the safety rail, guard or barrier and the other member beingcapable of longitudinal movement relatively to the safety rail, guard orbarrier when operated by an arcuately slotted handle pivoted to one ofthe members.

It has been proposed to couple the two tubular members by a tubeentering the bores in the two members, the tube being connected to themember affixed to the safety rail, guard or barrier by a pin forming apivot for the slotted handle through the slots in which and throughfurther longitudinal slots in the tube passes a second pin movement ofthe handle from a position at an angle to the two members to a positionparallel with the members causing the free member to move outwards tolock the safety rails, guard or barrier between the parallel supports.

It has now been found that a more efficient locking of the two memberscan be obtained by pivoting the handle on the movable member andmounting the tube on the member affixed to the safety rail, guard orbarrier on the pin moving in the arcuate slots in the handle.

According to the invention a safety rail, guard or barrier is held inposition between two supports by two in-line tubular members of the typereferred to in which the two tubular members are coupled together by atube entering the bores in the two members, a handle being pivoted on apin passing through the movable member and through the longitudinal slotin the tube and the tube being mounted on the second member by a pinpassing through the member and through the arcuate slot in the handle,movement of the handle from a position at an angle to the two membersinto a position parallel to the two members causing the handle and thefree member to move outwards to lock the safety rail, guard or barrierbetween the parallel supports.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a guard secured in position by two inline tubes in the locked position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation partly in section showing the tubes in thereleased position;

FIG. 3 is a similar elevation showing the tubes in the locked position;

H6. 4 is a perspective view of one end of a guard rail showing means foradjusting the length thereof.

A safety rail A for a guard or barrier B is locked between two parallel,preferably vertical supports (not shown) such as two walls the sides ofwindow frames or other vertical pillars or supports by two in-line railsformed as tubular members a,

' ment relatively thereto.

The two tubular members a, a are coupled together by a tube D enteringthe bores in the two members. A handle D is pivoted on the movablemember a by a pin a passing therethrough and through a longitudinal slotd in the tube D. The tube D is affixed to the member a of safety rail,by a pin a passing through the member a and through an arcuate slot d inthe handle D.

When the handle D is moved from a position at an angle to the twomembers a, 0 (FIG. 2) to a position parallel therewith (FIG. 3) thehandle D and the free or movable member a is caused to move away fromthe member a affixed to the safety rail B to lock the members a, abetween the supports, the member a sliding through the ring a.

The effective length of the two members a, a may be adjusted byextension rods C formed with rubber or other buffers c to engage thevertical supports and with a peg or pip or spring or other pawl c toengage one or other of a plurality of holes a in the members a a.

Tests have shown that the same locking pressure on the handle D whenmounted as hereinbefore described exerts a locking pressure on the twomembers a, a up to percent above the locking pressure exerted by the twomembers as previously mounted.

What I claim is:

1. A safety rail, guard or barrier held in position between two parallelsupports by two in-line tubular members one of which is affixed to thesafety rail and the other being capable of longitudinal movementrelatively to the safety rail when operated by an arcuately slottedhandle pivoted to one of the members the invention comprising twoin-line tubular members, a tube by which the two members are coupledtogether, a handle, a pin pivoting the handle on the movable member andpassing through a longitudinal slot in the tube, a pin connecting thetube to the stationary member and passing through an arcuate slot in thehandle, movement of the handle from a position at an angle to the twomembers into a position parallel to the two members causing the handleand the free member to move outwards to lock the safety rail between thetwo parallel supports.

2. A safety rail guard or barrier as in claim 1 a ring affixed to theguard slides on the movable member as the handle is operated.

3. A safety rail, guard or barrier as in claim 1 in which the effectivelength of the safety rail is increased by extension rods, a peg on therod to engage one of a plurality of holes in one of the members, and abuffer on the end of the rod for engaging one of the supports.

1. A safety rail, guard or barrier held in position between two parallelsupports by two in-line tubular members one of which is affixed to thesafety rail and the other being capable of longitudinal movementrelatively to the safety rail when operated by an arcuately slottedhandle pivoted to one of the members the invention comprising twoin-line tubular members, a tube by which the two members are coupledtogether, a handle, a pin pivoting the handle on the movable member andpassing through a longitudinal slot in the tube, a pin connecting thetube to the stationary member and passing through an arcuate slot in thehandle, movement of the handle from a position at an angle to the twomembers into a position parallel to the two members causing the handleand the free member to move outwards to lock the safety rail between thetwo parallel supports.
 2. A safety rail guard or barrier as in claim 1 aring affixed to the guard slides on the movable member as the handle isoperated.
 3. A safety rail, guard or barrier as in claim 1 in which theeffective length of the safety rail is increased by extension rods, apeg on the rod to engage one of a plurality of holes in one of themembers, and a buffer on the end of the rod for engaging one of thesupports.